Peters



I l I I I N. PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D.Cy

`and second doors, with the apparatus as vadapted for.

Vis no power foroperating a machine other than animal eclittica ,States aient Qtiiiw.

Letters Parma No. 91,819, (mea Jim@ 29, 1869.

MACHINERY .'E' OR RAISIG- AND LOWERINQ Goons.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM BRADBURY, vt Newton, in the county of Middlesex, and State ot' Massa-- chusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Raising and Lowering Goods of various kinds from one,loft to another; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description 'of the same, reference being had to the drawings accompanying this specification, and forming a part of the same, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

In the drawings- Figure 1 represents a vertical section, on line 1 1, on iig. 2, through threeiioors of a building, and showing my improved apparatus in elevation as applied thereto.

Figure 2 is also a vertical section, taken transversely to the plane of iig. 1, on line 2 2, on tig. l.

Figure 3 is a sectional plan, the cutting-plane being on line 3. 3, on figs. l and .2.

Figure L is a sectional plan,'tl1e cutting-plane being on line 4 4, on figs. l and 2.

Figure 5 is a vertical section through two tioors, on the same line as fig. 2, but looking in an opposite direcv tion, and showing my improved apparatus as adapted to hoisting.

Figure G ,is'a sectional plan, the cutting-plane being on line 5 5, on igf, and showing'a part of the first hoisting. I

Figure 7 is a partial section throughflower door, showing thel self-loading apparatus t to 'be nsed when hoisting. l y

My invention relates to an improved machine for lowering goods from one ,loft to another where there or manual; and g c It consists, first, ot' a peculiar construction and arrangement oflowering-mechanism, in combina-tion with receiving and delivering inclined ways, or their equiv.- alents, and other subordinate devices, by means of which the weight to be lowered is made tn cperate the machine automatically, and receive the several loads in succession at the top ot' the descent, and discharge them at the bottom without manual intervention.

It consists, secondly, in the combination with the hoisting and lowerng-meehanism and the inclined ways for supplying the load to the carriage thereof', ot' a stopbar, or other suitable detent, so arranged as to be op erated automatically in connection with the-carriage, so as to admit the proper load to the carriage, and to check and retain a further supply, and prevent the goods `from coming forward until the empty carriage has returned for another load.

It also consists, in the third place, in the application to the carriage of a'hinged cradle for the receptionof the goods, so constructed and applied that when the load rolls on to it the lowering-mechanism is thereby released, and thelad descends until the cradle is tilted and the load is discharged.

It consists, in the fourth place, in a peculiar arrangement of mechanism, which will be hereafter more fully described, by means of which abrake, or other suitable detent, is automatically applied to the lowering-mech- :mism at the proper time to check' its momentum, and stop its motion just as the empty carriage has lifted the vstop-bars, 'so as to allow the barrel or bale resting against rit'to rolLon to the cradle; and it also consists in the use of a pair of powerful springs on the top of the carriage-flame, which, aid the brake in bringing the -car- It also consists, in the fifth place, in the 'nseof a system of mechanism, to be operated by the carriage,

so arranged as to retard the caniage during any determined part of its descent, for the purposeof adapting the mechanism to lower and discharge the goods in loads of different weights, and at diffe-rent heights,

without endangering it by an excessive increase of velocity or momentum, as would be the case in lowering from the fourth or iifth loft of a building to the lower door without retarding or checking the descent of the load.Y

It consists, in the sixth place, in attaching the rope `by which the carriage is suspended from the drum', in

such a manner that it may be adjusted to the proper lengthfrom the point of attachment on the drum, so

will now proceed to explain its construction and operation.

The same letters drawings.

A, B, and C represent, respectively, the first, second, and third lioors of a store-house having my improved apparatus applied thereto, said floors being built so as to forman inclined plane, H', on either side of the scuttle, and provided with a pair of rails, to facilitate the loading of the barrels.

D is the drum, or windlass, on which the rope is woiind by which the carriage is suspended. 4

On one end ot' said drum is a spurfear, D', which is driven by the pinion E, on the shaft ofthe grooved refer to the same parts in all the wheel. E', made with a heavy rim, so as to serve as a flywheel, for the purpose of accumulating power during the descent ot' the load, to bring the carriage up again to the starting-point.

The drum D and iiy-wheel E are mounted in suitable bearings on the frame-work F, and are usually placed in'the upper loft ofthe building, above all goods requiring to be raised or lowered thereby.

Gr is a frame, made ot' wood, which l call the carriage, the vertical timbers of which are grooved, and fitted to the tongues a a, inserted in the posts H H, on which it moves up or down in a vertical line from the bottom to the top, or from the topto the bottom of the building, as the rope Gr", by which it is suspended from the drum, is wound on to or unwound from said drum.

The rope G', by which the carriage is suspended, is'

several times aroundthe drum, and the end made fastv to the spring-clamp a, the rope being ot' such a length as that, when the carriage has descended far enough to dump its load on the lower door, the rope shall be very nearly all nnwouud from the drum, so that as the momentum obtained by the iy-wheel during. the descent of the load continues to revolve it in the same direction, the rope is wound up on the drum again, but on the opposite side from which it has just been nnwouud, and the carriage is raised'to the starting-point again, ready to receive anotherfload.

To the lower bar ot'fthe carriage is attached a cradle, to receive the goods to be-lo'were'd, which', in the case represented in the drawings, are barrels of tlour, or any other goods put up in barrels.

The cradle, in the case represented, consists of two bars of wrought-iron, b b, bent in the form of a segment of a circle, the diameter of said circle being about.

the same as the diameter of a flour-barrel, and attachedrmly to the lower bar'ot' the carriage.

One end ot'said bars b b is connected together by means of a small rod of iron, on which are pivoted two other bars of wrought-iron, c c, and curved like the xed bars, but having an'extension, c c, downward from the free end of each, somewhat in the form of legs, and connected together by a rod, or bolt, d.

The bars c c also have two hook-shaped arms, c2 c?, on the ends opposite lto the projection c" c, which are used for hoisting. l

I is a dumping-bar, attached to the posts H H, in such a position, near the lower door, that when the `carriage descends with its load the legs c c strike upon it, and as the carriage continues to descend, the ,bars c c ot' the cradle are tilted until the barrel rolls oit' on the inclined railway-track J, down which it rolls to the door ot' the building, where it is to be loaded to be cai-ted away; or the inclined plane may be so arranged as to deliver the goods in any other direction desired.

K and Kl are stop-bars, attached to the posts H H, Vin such a manner that they may be readily removed, and are susceptible of being moved up by the action of the lugs or brackets f f,'bolted tothe side ot' the carriage, and which, coming in contact with the bars .K and K, lift them enough to allow the barrel tol roll under theln and fall on to the cradle.

Said bars have weights, K2, attached to each end, suiiiciently heavy to insure the falling of the bars as fast as the carriage descends, until they rest on the fixed stops e e, when they are in a position to check the next barrel, and prevent it from falling through the ,scuttler A pair of said bars, with the necessary weights, are tted to the posts H H just above the scuttle, but only that one isused which is just above the floor from which t-he goods are being delivered. d

L is a lever, having three arms, as represented in the drawings, and attached to the carriage-trame by the fulcrum-pin g, and is held in the position shown in the drawings by the spring l1.

vWhen there is no load on the cradle, the arm Ll being under the bar c of the cradle, the pivoted portion of the cradle is forced, by the action ot' the spring It, to assume the position shown iu the drawings, and the vertical arm of said lever, extending upward from the fulcrum, will be in such a position that, as the carriage moves up and approaches the stop-bar K, its upper epd will strike the projection i, on the lever M, and lift it, and through the lever N and link O, acting upon the long arm of the brake-lever P, apply the brake to the fly-wheel with sufficient force, acting in conjunction withthe powerful springs l, on the top of the carriage-trahie, to arrest the motion of the wheel and bring the carriage to a stand-still just'when it has lifted the stop-bar K i'a-r enough to allow the barrel resting against it to roll on to the cradle.

Q is a lifting-rod, suspended from the lever M, and guided by suitable bea1-ings,t'", bolted to the post H.

j is a lng, made fast to the rod Q by means ot' a setscrew, andA is used for the upper end ofthe lever L to strike against when goods are being delivered from the iioor B, and, by lifting the rod Q, operate the brakelever so as to stop the wheel andthe motion of the carriage at the proper time.

The lug j is turned on the rod Q. by loosening the set-screw, so that the lever L cannot strike it when goods are being delivered from th'e upper tloor.

The lug j would be duplicated on every floor except the upper, where the lever M serves the saine purpose, the rod Q being long enough to admit of this.

The springs P P', on the top ot the carriage, strike against the stops R, just before the upward movement ot the carriage ceases, and serve the double purpose of checking the momentum of the y-whcel and setting it in mot-ion again.

The brake is removed from contact with the wheel by the weight of the barrel falling on to the bars c c of the cradle, (which were raised above the bars b bby the action of the spring h on the lever L,) and depressing them; and through them the horizontal arm L of the lever'L is depressed, and the vertical arm of the said lever is withdrawn from-under the lever M, and the weight of the rod Q and the weight S, suspended from the'shortarm of the brake-lever P, acts to rel move the brake from the wheel.

T is a lever, attached. to the post H by means of `a fnlcrnm-pin, k, and may be placed at any point between the starting-point of the carriage and the tloor B, according as circumstances may require.

The inner arm of said lever, toward the carriage, is arranged to act upon the lifting-rod Q by means ofthe lug l.

The'outer e'nd is provided with several notches m., to

fix the location of the weight U, according as greater y or less weight isrequired. I

A lever having two arms, V and V', is pivoted to the post H, just above the inner end of the lever T, and is h'eld in the position shown in the drawing by the spring n, the'arxn V resting on -the top of `the side projection-o on the lever T, and latching it so that the weight U'does not cause .the lever l to act upon the rod Q, to apply the brake to the wheel, andat the same time it presents no obstacle to the free movement of the'rod Q, for thepurpose of applying the brake when the carriage arrives lat or near the end of its upward movement.

The arm V projects slightly beyond the line of the inner edge of the post 1i, and inthe saine vertical plane with the arm L2 of the-lever L, so that when the carriage descends with a loud upon it, the end of the arm L"e will strikethe arm V', and overcoming thel tension of the spring n, will trip the arm V from the lever T, and allow the weight U to lact upon the rod Q, and thus apply the brake to the wheel with greaterv ing two arms, one .of which rests uponthe top side of pulleys s s, said cords being attached to rings t t, through `in such a position that, when the carriage moves up v when the weighted pawl drops in gear with the dog -on the lower har of the carriage, so that it shall not or less force, according to the size of the weight or the notch in which it is placed on the lever T.

W is another lever, pivoted to the post H, and havthe lng p, on the rod Q, while the other arm projects beyond the inner lille ofthe post H, in such aposition that, as the carriage descends, the arm L2 of the lever L will strike it, ,and pull the rod Q downwards with suicienti'orce to lift the weight U, and allow the lever T to be again latched by the lever V, in which condition it remains until tripped again by the next descent of the carriage. The load being removed from the carriage, the spring h instantly acts to throw the lever L into such a position that the arm L2 will pass the lever V' without touching itin moving up.

The'weghtUis only to be placed upon the lever T in case'the distance is so great or the load so heavy that too much momentum would be obtained, and is used solely to retard or check ,the motion of the car-l riage in its downward movement, the object being to prevent too great a velocity being obtained by the descending load, 'it being necessary to obtain only so much momentum, or accumulate only so much power in the lyavheel, bythe descent of the load, as is necessary to raise the empty carriage again to the startingpoint, and lift the stop-bals, to allow the carriage to be again loaded.

X is a haard-fall or endless-rope belt, passing over the 'Hy-wheel in a groove provided for the purpose, and used to operate the windlass to bring the carriage to the proper point to receive its load prepara-tory to commencing to deliver goods, when it islifted from the wheel by means of the cords lr 'r passing over the which the fall X passes, said rings moving upward and out-ward from the wheel, in grooves provided for the purpose in the inclined guides u u, the rope or fall X being guided in its descent on to the wheel by the said T mgsa i 'v c are weights attached to the rings t t, forA the purpose of insuring the fall of therngs when the cords r r are released from the belayingcleatsl w w.

y y are moitises in the posts H, in which stops R R are to be inserted', as shown in red lines, to prepare the machine to deliver goods froln the floor BQ Y is a rockeushaft, supported in suitable bearingsl in or under the lower tloor, and to whichthe stoplevers or arms Y are attached, and project above the floor a snliic'ient distance to 'chock a barrel, and prevent it from rolling into the scnttle before the cradle is in a position tolreceive it.

w' is a dog, attached rmly to the rocker-shaft Y, and :c is a weighted pawl, so constructed and applied that the weighted end shall act upon the dog w', and prevent the rocker-shaft Y and the levers or arms Y from revolving toward the scuttle until the carriage descends, when the pin x', striking the inner end ofthe pawl x, lifts the weighted end.'J and allows the weigh-tofthe barrel to revolve the rocker-shaft and roll on to the carriage, rolling over the levers Y', the inner ends of which rest on the lower bar of the carriage.

y is a lug attached to the lower bar of the carriage,

with its load, said lug comes in contazt with one ot' the levers Y', and lifts it up to .its original position,

w', and prevents the next barrel from rolling into the Scuttle. v

The rocker-shaft Y, levers Y', dog w', weighted pawl 2;, the ypin af, lng 1, and inclined plane Z comprise the seltlloading apparat-us for hoisting-purposes. The lngy is provided with a stop-joint, so constructed that when not needed for hoisting, it may be folded back come in contact with the dumping-bar I when the carwhere it is desirable to discharge the load when hoistl The end farthest from the scuttle is attached to the floor in such a manner that, while it cannot be lifted from the floor, it is free to move toward the scuttle.

The end toward the scuttle is held down to the floor, by the weight B in a perfectly obvious manner,

The lfront end is also provided with two metal arms y2, one on' each side, projecting toward the scuttle, and their ends connected by the rod ai, on to which the projecting arms c2 c2 on the cradle hook, as-the carriage moves up, and lifting it a short distance from the door, and drawing it toward the scuttle, dumps the load from the cradle; at the same time, by virtue of its elasticity, it serves to arrest the upward motion Y ofthe carriage more gradually, and prevent an undue strain from being exerted upon the rope and carriage, as might be the case were the stop for dumping rigidly attached to the door.

The operation of my machine, when used for lowering goods, is as follows The apparatus being in the condition represented in the drawings, except that the weight U is removed from the lever T, and it being desirable to deliver a certain quantity of flour or other barrelled goods from the floor C to the door A,a `man is sent into the loft to break out the ilouraud start the machine. He first rolls three or four barrels on to the inclined railway leading to thescuttle, the tirst` barrel resting against the stop-bar K, when he steps to the fall that passes over the fly-wheel, and turns the wheel by it until the Carriage has lifted the stop-bary so as to allow the rst barrel to fall on to the cradle, the weight 'of which, depressing the pivoted bars c c of the cradle, (which were held in an elevated position before the load was received, by the force ofthe spring 7L acting ou the lever L,) andtpping the leverL from its contact with the projection 'i on the lever M, releases the brake from contact with the dy-wheel, when the weight of the load, assisted by the reaction of the powerful spring P', on the top of the carriage, causes the drum D to begin slowly to revolve and the rope to unwind from its periphery, while the spur-gear D on theldrum D,

. acting on the pinion 15h-causes the ily-wheel to revolve three, four, or more times iaster than the drum.

The moment that the carriage has arrived at the limit of its upward movement, the operator pulls upon the cords rfiuntil the fall is lifted entirely free from the wheel, and makes them fast to the belayiug-cleats w w, after which the machine is entirely self-acting as long as the requisite load is furnished to it at each descent.

When the carriage begins to descend, the stop-bar K descends with it until it rests on the stops e e, when it is in a position to stop the next barrel from rolling into the lscuttle, and holds it iu that position, represented by Vthe blue circles marked z in the drawing, until the carriage again lifts the stop-bar K,

The carriage continues to descend, constantly increasing in speed until the legs c c, on'the pivoted cradle, strike on the dumping-bar I, when the continued descent of the carriage causes the pivoted cradle to he tilted into the position shown in red lines in tig. 2, and the barrel rolls oi on to. the inclined ways A', down which it rolls'to the door ofthe building..

Just at the same tiniethat the barrel is rolled oft' from' the cradle, the rope by which the carriage is connected with the drum D, is ailunwound from the drum D, and as the ily-wheel continues to revolve, on account of the momentum obtained during the descent of the carriage, the rope is wound up again on p with suticient force to lift the stop-bar K, with the barrel resting against it, and the lever L, coming in cotact with the lever M, lifts it, and applies the brake `to the fly-wheel to check its motion, at the same time the spring P' comes in contact with the stops R, and are compressed.

When the bar K has been lifted the requisite distance, and just as the springs I" and the brake have overcome the momentum of the wheel and brought it to' a stand-still, the barrel rolls on to the cradle, and tripping the lever L, releases the brake from contact with the wheel, and again sets the machine in motion, which operation will be repeated as long as theproper load is supplied to it.

If it is desired to deliver goods from the door B, the bar K' is to be placed in' its proper position, as shown in red dotted lines, with the weights attached, and the stops R are inserted in the mortises y y, the carriage having been first let down below the tloor B, when the process of operation is precisely the same as indelivering from the door C, except that iu the ascent of the carriage, the lever L applies the brake to the wheel by striking the lugj on the lifting-.rod Q, which is attached to the lever M.

In case the distance is so great, or the load so heavy l as to increase the speed beyond what is desirable, the

so that the weight is held up until the carriage descends, when the arm LA of the lever L comes in contact with the arm V', and overcoming the tension of the spring n, trips the arm V from the lever T, and allows the weight to lift the rod Q, and apply the brake to the ily-wheel with greater or less force, according to the size of -the weight, or the Inotch in the.levcr in which it is placed, and thereby ret-ard or partially check the descent of the carriage and its load.

The time of applying this check will vary according to circumstances, and may be regulated by changing the location 'of the lever T.

As the carriage continues todescend, the arm L2 of the lever L comes in contact with the level' W, and carrying it down by its action on the lug p, draws the rod Q, with the inner end ofthe lcverfll, down, until it is latched again, and the brake is removed from the wheel, and the weight U is prevented from acting upon The duration of the retard-check must alsobe varied by circumstances, and may be regulated by placing the lever Tand lug p, nearer toor farther from the level' l.

By the use of this invention for lowering goods, which is entirely automatic, it being seltloading, selfoperating, and self-unloading, Iam enabled to deliver two or three times as many goods in the same time as by the old process, deliver them in better condition, and it requires but one man, where the old process required three or four.

' Another advantage it has ovcr'tbe old arrangement, is the greater degree of safety attending. its use, the scuttles being comparatively small, and the stop-bar K making it next to impossible-for a person to fall through them.

To adapt my machine for hoisting, it is only necessary to remove the dumping-bar I, place the levers Y' in the positionshown in figs. 5 and 7, place the inclined plane z in the position shown in Iig. 5, and make it fast to the iloor so that it cannot move, and attach the inclined rail-track A3 to the floor on which it is desirable to deliver the flour, in the manner shown in tig. 5, with the weight B attached to the end next to the scuttle, as shown, and throw the hingedlug t, attached to the carriage, out and down till the shoulder of the joint prevents its being moved further, when the machine is ready for hoisting, the windlass 'and handefall being used for that purpose.

weight U is placed upon' the lever T, which is latched,-

the brake again until the next descentof the carriage.v

The barrels being rolled on to the incline till they rest aga-inst the levers Y', as shown in blue lines in figs. 5 and 7, the' carriage is allowed to descend until the pin x strikes the inner end of the pawl x, and depressing it, lifts the weighted'end, and dsengages it from the dog au', when the weight ofthe barrels pressing against the lev'ers Y', causes the rocker-shaft Y to rotate, and the barrel rolls on to thev cradle.

As the carriage ascends, whether operated by thewindlass, or by horse or steam-power, the hinged lug y coming in contact with one of the levers Y', lifts it up until the pawl at exgages with the dog w', and checks the next barrel, and holds it in the position shown in fig. 7 until the carriage descends again.

-As the carriage approaches the point where it is to be discharged, the hook-shaped arms on the cradle engage with the rod dzon the inner end of the incline A3, and by the resistance presented by the weight B2, the cradle is dumped, as shown in red lines in fig. 5, and the barrell rolled on" on to the inclined track, down which it rolls', while the carriage descends -again to receive another load;

The carriage may be operated by the windlass and hand-fall, or the carriage may be disconnected from the windlass and attached to a rope leading over a pulley in the upper loft, thence under another on the lower door, and thence to a steam-engine; or it may be attached to a horse in the usual manner.

Having thus described the natu-re and operation of my invention,

What I claim as my invention, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The machine for lowering goods, constructed and power generated by the descent of the load, by means of a fly-wheel, or an equivalent device connected therewith, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the carriage with the inclined ways H', which supply the load to the same, substau,

tially as described.

4. In combination with the carriage and inclined ways H', which supply the goods to the carriage, the stop-bars or detents K and K', for releasing the load to the carriage, and arresting the supply, substantially as described.

5. Thermethod of releasing the brake from the dywheel, which permits the load to descend, by operating the releasing-mechanism by the weight of the load, substantially as described.

6. 'lhe method of applying the brake to the dywheel by the ascent of the empty carriage, so .as to bring the carriage to a stand-still at the proper place to receive another load, substantially as described 7. The within-described device for' applying the brake to the ily-wheel during a portion ofthe descent of the load, to retard its motio'n, and to release it again at the proper time, substantially as described'.

8. The combination of the hosting-carriage, the loading-ways A3, and the devices shown, or their equivalents, for releasing and retaining the goods to be loaded,'all constituting a self-loading apparatus to be used i'n hoisting goods, substantially as described.

9. The combination of the hoisting-carriage andthe yielding-stop, and inclined ways, for discharging the load fromthe carriage in hoisting, substantially as described. y A

. Executed at Boston, this 6th day of February, 1869.

lVILLIAM BRADBURY.

Witnesses N. O. LOMBARD, FRANK ALLEN; 

